Pay attention and have a plan - it can save lives

 

Raul Carrillo

When my dad was teaching me how to drive at the age of 14, he always preached to me to pay attention to my surroundings and have a plan in case something goes wrong in front of me. 

My name is Raul Carrillo and for the last 25 years, I have served as a Kansas State Trooper. On the morning of February 21, 2018, I found myself following his valuable advice as I not only saved my own life, but I also saved the life of someone else.

I was patrolling northbound on I-35 near El Dorado in Butler County when I witnessed a southbound 2017 Kenworth, hauling 7,500 gallons of diesel fuel, lose control. As it slid sideways into the concrete barrier wall hard enough to break through, I swerved right onto the outside shoulder to avoid a head on collision.

Both the power unit and trailer overturned, and the power unit burst into flames. The Kenworth and trailer continued rolling over while sliding down the barrier. It finally came to rest on the driver’s side with the power unit resting on the wall and the trailer blocking both northbound lanes.

As I ran back to help the trapped driver and saw the cab on fire with the tanker on its side spilling diesel fuel, I knew it was a situation that at any moment could go from bad to worse. There were so many things going through my mind. Is this thing going to explode? Am I going to catch fire when I get to it? But the last thing I wanted was for someone to perish in a fire like that. It felt like forever before I was able to get the driver out.

Thankfully, not only did God put me in the right place at the right time, but he also gave me the courage and strength to save the truck driver’s life. The ‘what ifs’ still go through my mind. What if it didn't go this way? What really touches my heart is my family. My wife, my daughter, my son and of course, the truck driver himself.

I met the truck driver after he spent months in the hospital, and he stopped by my office to say thank you.  He was extremely grateful and told me I gave him a second chance in life.

Technical Trooper Carrillo works for the Kansas Highway Patrol in south central Kansas

Professional truck driver to ‘four wheelers’: Give us room!

 

My name is Ron and I’m a semi-truck driver from Kansas. I’m 59 years old and have been driving since my mid-20s. I just want to say that the cars and pickup trucks that we
professional drivers refer to as “four wheelers” are being operated by people who at times appear not to care about their health and safety or that of other persons using the highways.

I know there are a few bad semi drivers out there, some of whom have pulled out in front of me going 65 miles per hour – way too close. But people driving cars and pickups do that all the time at intersections. They also tend to cut off semis after passing them going 70-80 mph. They get right in front and then sometimes slow way down, even hitting the brakes. Now why would you pass me at 70 mph and then slow to 5-10 mph?

 Here’s how you “four-wheeler” folks need to behave around me and other semi drivers:

 ·      Stay off my back end and don’t tailgate. I can’t see you.

·         ·      Stay off the phone when driving, especially around semis.

·        ·      Stay off my right side. I can’t see you there, either.

 It’s all about physics, motion, mass and density. I can’t stop 80,000 pounds-plus of truck quickly. Having more tires on the highway doesn’t mean I can brake faster than a regular vehicle. And for the drivers hauling oversized loads it’s even worse. Give us room: 1 second for each 10 feet of vehicle length, and add 1 more second if you’re driving faster than 60 mph.

 

Ronald Mayes is from Eureka and has been driving semi-trucks for more than 30 years

 

Inattention causes chaotic and costly mistakes

 By Caleb Locke

There was one instance that happened a while back that has helped me realize how important it is to remove distractions while driving.

I was driving home one day after work. During this time, heavy road construction was being done to rebuild a bridge along the K-10 route. Due to the road construction, the road narrowed down to one lane going both ways.

The one lane caused traffic to slow dramatically. Therefore, I thought it would be okay to pull up the map to try to find a Papa Murphy’s so I could pick up a pizza and have a relaxing Friday night.

However, as I started to pull up the map, the traffic on the highway opened up and I was able to speed up. At this time, I should have put my phone away and focused on the road.

While I was accessing the map, I took my eyes off the road for less than three seconds. It was at this moment the whole line of cars in front of me had come close to a complete stop. But I was still going 50 miles an hour. As I saw my life flash before my eyes, I instantly dropped my phone, slammed on my brakes and prayed I would stop in time.

Unfortunately …  I did not. Instead, I barreled into the car in front of me, pushing it into another and that into another. In sum, there were four vehicles that were completely totaled in this incident.

Luckily, I was wearing my seat belt, and no one involved was seriously injured. But there were a lot of mistakes in this situation made by me. In conclusion, an extremely chaotic and costly accident could have been avoided entirely if I hadn’t allowed the phone or map to distract me. I hope everyone learns from my mistakes.

Caleb is originally from Topeka. He now teaches in Lawrence.

Annual safety blog series starts tomorrow

 Some stories share triumph about a life saved. Other stories tell about the tragedy of a life being taken. And they all illustrate why safety is so important on our roadways.

 KDOT and other transportation organizations are participating in Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day, a nationwide safety campaign. As part of those efforts, KDOT is hosting an annual traffic safety blog series where people share personal stories about significant moments in their lives, and some moments that changed their lives forever. 

As this series begins tomorrow, we have people from across Kansas sharing stories about their experiences or traffic-related events that have affected their lives. 

The purpose of these stories is to raise traffic safety awareness about the real-life consequences when crashes occur. We hope you never forget these stories and that they remind you of the importance to always practice safe driving habits. Together, we can help put the brakes on fatalities.